Brewdog Hopped-Up Brown Ale

A 2015 Prototype Challenge offering from Brewdog now and the only one of the four they released in December last year that I managed to grab a bottle of at the time, although it turns out that I managed to try their B-Side Milk Stout on-tap which later became their Jet Black Heart; variations of a beer that featured in the challenge. The eventual winner of the competition was in fact the new headline offering from the brewery, their Jet Black Heart nitro milk stout which took over 40% of the votes whereas this brown ale ended up coming last of the four and taking about 12% of the votes cast so I’m not particularly optimistic going into this one after reading up on it a little. As I found in previous years, there is usually one good or average beer in these types of four pack releases from Brewdog and the rest is basically filler, although the year both Jack Hammer and Cocoa Psycho featured together back in 2012 is an exception that strings to mind and I wonder if that is something the brewery has been attempting to avoid a repeat of since. Anyway, here’s a review of only my second brown ale from Brewdog and the first since trying their #Mashtag 2013 in September of that year; wish me luck.

Appearance (4/5):A semi-clear body that is a medium brown in colour and it’s topped with a slightly off-white head that is creamy looking and sticks to the sides of the glass slightly; retention is pretty good too with little movement over the opening couple minutes, holding even as I worked my way down the glass.Aroma (6/10): This one starts with a slightly malty nose that comes through with some bread notes and touches of light caramel notes. There’s a few citrus hops that are a little fruity coming through soon after the malts and there was a little mango making an appearance too. It seems quite balanced on the nose with some light sugars and a few background fruits but it didn’t seem a particularly strong beer on the nose to be honest.Taste (5/10): Matching the nose, this one again starts quite malty with some earthy flavours and nutty touches coming through. There was a little caramel and toffee showing itself towards the middle of the beer but the hops from the nose are definitely less pronounced at this stage, although some did appear. There was a touch of sweetness and some faint mango and citrus coming through but it could have been a little stronger and closer to it was with the nose. Towards the end there was a moderate bitterness and some subtle chocolate flavouring as well as the nice roasted taste that seen things out.Palate (3/5): This one came with a light-medium body and a slight tang from the citrus hops as well as a moderate bitterness off the back of that which stayed towards the end. The beer could have used a fuller body and the balance wasn’t a particularly good one really but at the same time it wasn’t the worst either. The finish was a little harsh with an earthy feel that was semi-dry and moderately carbonated as well.

Overall (11/20): This one started okay with some nice citrus hops and a little mango sitting on top of a malty, almost earthy base that also featured a rounded, nutty flavour but things started to fade pretty quickly after that to be honest. Come the taste, the mango and fruits were a little less pronounced as you sipped away at the beer and with the exception of the nose, the balance was a pretty poor one with the finish seeming quite harsh too. I can see why this one came last out of the four beers in the prototype challenge, it’s miles behind the winner Jet Black Heart and I can’t imagine this is one that Brewdog will resurrect at any point in the future either.